IP Library Granted Patent US 12,668,134
Granted Patent B2
US 12,668,134 · App. 18/074,735 · Granted Jun 30, 2026

System for managing vehicle power outlet and estimating range

Inventors: Anna Frances Hardig Hendrickson (Southfield, MI); Ryan Wayne Warner (Ann Arbor, MI); Clayton Benjamin Ford (Dearborn, MI); Andrew Peter Attivissimo (Allen Park, MI); Emad Khan (Acworth, GA); Jacob Michael Haspiel (Ann Arbor, MI); Joseph Ian Halaszynski (Farmington Hills, MI)
Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
B60L15/2045B60L1/006B60L50/60B60W60/00253B60L2240/66B60W2555/20B60W2556/45B60W2710/242
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,668,134
App. No.
18/074,735
Granted
Jun 30, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A vehicle includes an electric motor that propels the vehicle, a battery that provides power to the electric motor, one or more power outlets that supply electric power from the battery to one or more external devices, and one or more controllers that, responsive to indication that a driving range is less than a threshold, disable one of the power outlets.

Claims (10)

1 . A vehicle comprising:

an electric motor configured to propel the vehicle;

a battery configured to provide power to the electric motor;

one or more power outlets configured to receive one or more plugs; and

one or more controllers programmed to, while the vehicle is travelling toward a destination and when a driving range is less than a value that is defined by a distance from the destination to a charging station, disable one of the power outlets.

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further programmed to, when the driving range is greater than the value, enable the one of the power outlets.

3 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further programmed, to responsive to receiving trip information including terrain information of a destination, determine an item undesired for the destination based on the terrain information, and responsive to detecting a presence of the item via a wireless connection, output a recommendation to remove the item from the vehicle to increase the driving range.

4 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more power outlets are further configured to receive power from a generating device, and wherein the driving range is determined using an amount of power output by the generating device as predicted using weather information at a destination.

5 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the one or more controllers are further programmed to generate commands to autonomously drive the vehicle from a destination to a meetup location to pick up a vehicle user, and limit power to a vehicle feature during driving from the destination to the meetup location.

6 . The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the meetup location is received from a mobile device associated with the vehicle user.